The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has condemned the bill in the Senate seeking to permanently elevate the Ooni of Ife and Sultan of Sokoto as the exclusive Co-Chairmen of the Traditional Rulers Council.

The group said the move would be at the expense of apex traditional rulers from other ethnic nationalities and geopolitical divides.

Ezechi Chukwu, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, said this in a statement on Sunday in Enugu.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the bill has passed second reading.

Chukwu said the Igbo body was astounded by the rationale for such an asymmetric bill by the Senate with its utter disregard for fairness, equity, justice, and the principle of federal character as enshrined in the Constitution.

“The Senate in this vein has failed in its capacity as the highest legislative carrier and custodian of the nation’s democratic mandate.

“This bill is not only inequitable, discriminatory, and ethnocentric, it is equally distasteful, reprehensible, and objectionable.

“It lacks all the ethical considerations, objective metrics, and unbiased categories for national unity and social justice in a pluralist nation-state like Nigeria,” Chukwu said.

He said Ohanaeze Ndigbo called for the urgent withdrawal of the bill and the need to review it in consideration of ethnic differences, cultural sensitivity, geopolitical balance, inclusive governance, and equitable representation.

“It is only by so doing shall the bill foster national unity, peaceful coexistence, and social stability,” he stressed.